DAY 1- PEACHESTER TO MOREE

Well the day finally arrived. Time to get away for the first big ride in 5 years!! WooHoo. The last 3 weeks of spending spree and shed time have paid off and the old girl looks good and is in better shape than she's been since I bought her. Wheel bearings-replaced, Throttle cables -Replaced, Second battery-Installed (To keep me breathing at night-bloody sleep apnoea), 21" front wheel-Installed, Rally Raid-Fitted, Rear shock-Rebuilt, Andy Strapz Homer Made Rack-Built and Installed ($57.50!!), New Brake Pads-Installed, Spare Clutch cable-Packed....... Credit Card-Empty and Ready, Oh and Me, Good to Go.

Plan A is to meet Dave in Gatton and John in Warwick then over through Pikedale, Bonshaw, Ashford, Graman, Balfours Peak, Warialda, Pallamallawa to Moree where we will stay the night and lounge around in the hot springs.....Finally. Tried to get there on the OCR run but things did not work out that way. From there some dirt (Black soil cotton country) through to Walgett, slab it over to Bourke for another relaxing night, Then West to Tibooburra, Up to Innamincka via Cameron and the Bus, Over Cordillo to Birdsville and Big Red and Poeppel. From there roughly straight to Longreach for a day of playing tourist and then back home via Carnarvon Gorge. Sounds like a plan....right?

You know what they say?... "Best laid plans of motorcyclists and men"

Well Day 1 worked out well. Picked up Dave  and Johno' and made a nice day of it with a couple of wrong turns on Pikedale Rd but all was good.

Tony and Rossco came up from Coffs via Guyra, Baraba etc and rocked in about stubby o'clock. At which point we coined the phrase and tradition of "Ten Bucks!" We had enough of us to get a carton and misc other things for a put in of $10.00 each and soon every afternoon was not complete without the call "Ten Bucks". With the usual result..... "Another Ten Bucks!!"

 

You get the picture.

DAY 2-MOREE TO BOURKE

The run down through Mallowa to Rowena was nice, the roads were in excellent condition albeit with a few damp spots which were not a concern until we hit the black soil. They were mostly freshly graded and had some loose marble off the wheel tracks and this was causing Johno' some concern. He has just recovered from an anterior cruciate ligament injury and was not happy about the prospect of freshening it up with a dab. So when we got to the  Collarenebri Burren Junction Rd he headed north west for tarmac and would meet us in Walgett.

 

The road from Rowena west was all black soil and had been very wet recently (as was the story for the rest of the trip but more on that later).The roads had been recently graded also but have had tractors and harvesters on them for some time and the ruts were very deep but nice and wide. We all had a few moments when we got to a section where there had been some 4WD traffic that meandered across the full width of the road because they have a much narrower track than the machinery and left some very interesting minor ruts inside the larger ones we had relaxed into following. Lets just say we got very sideways a few times but no one had a get off so that's a good thing.

INSERT FREEZE FRAMES FROM GO PRO HERE OF RUTTED BLACK SOIL (I'll get around to editing this soon)

Eventually we got to a low lying section where there was a large bog hole. We limped through it with more than a little trepidation, I ploughed through first and tip toed across the crust on the edge for a while. Eventually the weight of the GS was too much and the front end broke through, which was followed by a pretty good impersonation of the bridal waltz ! The guys were watching and taking bets on when and how bad this was all going to end, however the old pig stayed upright and I stopped on the other side beckoning them to follow. Rosco was first on his 950 and he is a exponent of the point and shoot school of obstacle  tackling. So he followed roughly my path, standing up, full noise. If you have seen that part of Motor Bikin 2 where Phill and Bill are stuck out west and eventually set of the EPIRB, then that's what it looked like. The KTM was down to rear axle level at the rear with a roost coming out of it 20m long and all behind him ducking for cover as the clods and rocks and old car parts that were forming the road base came flying at them. he also had a bit of a waltz and did spear off into the shoulder a bit but got through unscathed. Tony on the Super 10 came through in a less dramatic fashion, straight through the guts (which becomes a bit of a mantra later on). Very un spectacular but effective none the less. Dave of course on the XR was wondering what all the fuss was?

Immediately after the big hole there was a tractor coming out out the paddock so we flagged him down and asked how bad it was further down our intended path. His words were not inspiring confidence in us and we asked the best way to get to Walgett from there to which he replied

"Just keep going straight on and take the Cryon signs to the bitumen, turn right and your on your way"

Straight on? I thought. That can't be right? I checked my maps and found that the route we were supposed to be on actually turned off 'before' the big hole so instead of saying to the guys "we have to turn around and go back through it," I decided that the best way forward was...forward.

Eventually we arrived at said bitumen and stopped for a breather (smoke for Dave) kick the tyres and check the bags and straps etc. Not being as significant at that time as it would be in a couple of days but we were all commenting on "how much water was laying around."

DAY 3 BOURKE TO TIBOOBURRA

We departed at the sparrows from Bourke, Johno was a bit concerned about t leaking final drive seal on the 1200 and a bit more concerned about the dirt so he decided to team up with another GS pilot we met at the camp ground the night before and head to Hungerford and re assess the oil leak there. As it turns out it got worse so he headed East and arrived home the next day to finish working on his shed.

 

The road to Wanaaring was much the same as it was a week or so earlier when we were out here at the OCR. Nice and fast, no soft spots or water on the road, we made good time and got some good footage too. See here for the YouTube video:

INSERT YOUTUBE URL FOR BOURKE TO TIB HERE

We all blasted across the Wanaaring road and as Rossco would put it:

"We smashed it!"

A quick splash and dash at the Wanaaring shop. Chatted to Margaret and Ben for a while and hit the road again

The road from Wanaaring to Tibooburra was excellent. The last 100k's or so was a little rough in spots but the country was looking fantastic. The scale of the Outback is more impressive when its green I think. You can rally see the scale of things. Even though we were on the highest piece of land for 100's of K's, Dave found the only higher vantage point there was for a picture. I must get a copy of it off him, see if it was that much better.

The boys were very pleased with their setups which we had shaken down on the OCR run a week or so earlier. Even though Rossco had his steel ponies which he pointed out were bigger than my Andy Strapz, he still could not fit 2x 10L jerrys on board so I had to carry the extra one, making my fuel payload 25L main tank and 20L on the back. Made for hard going in the wet sections (a lot of practice was about to be had) and as it turned out I didn't need to carry it 'cos Rossco went ahead over Cordillo and had Dave carry the extra 10L AND it turned out that he made it into Birdsville from Innamincka on main tank and 10L with the reserve light staring at him for 90K's. Lucky man.

Other than a false alarm with the big KTM spitting a bit of coolant out onto the bitumen when we stopped about 100k's  out of Tibooburra, (see YouTube video above for the panic) we arrived in Tib' ahead of time and the call went out "Ten Bucks"...you know the rest.

After we washed the dust down and unpacked we headed over to the Family Hotel for some kulcha and have a look at the artwork. If the walls could be peeed and framed they would be worth a million or so. Well according to Rossco, I can appreciate the artefact but a art lover I am not.

 

DAY 4 TIBOOBURRA TO INNAMINCKA

The next morning saw a brilliant moon still blazing as the sun came up. This picture did not comeout as good as I hoped but trust me, through strained bloodshot eyes it looked amazing.

We headed off for Cameron corner and had a quick stopover at the claypan. Rossco did some circle work and tried to bury the Kato, the rest of us just looked on with disapproving shakes of the head. I was actually envious as the GS would not spin up with the load I had on without sever provocation. It would however launch the front wheel and try to kill me at the slightest suggestion of irresponsibility!!

 

Some footage of the run out to Cameron can be found here:

 

INSERT TIB TO CAMERON FOOTAGE LINK HERE

A relaxing moment and a cool drink, top up the Camel Backs and we headed of to the post for the obligatory "Been there done that" shots. We had heard our first plausible reports of approaching rain from the Corner Store. The grasshoppers were jumping high and evidently that is a sure sign they said. It was Wednesday and they said 40+ mm by Friday!! I was optimistic that we could make Birdsville before the rain and I did not mind getting rained in there, just not in Innamincka or worse, on the side of Cordillo!! I had no idea at that stage that my optimism was gong to make my worst fears a reality.

 

Mr Greg in all  his glory

The the fun part. The Roller Coaster ride out of Cameron to the Bus!! Yahoo.

A quick stop for more Kodak Moments

 

Then more fun out to the Turnoff onto the Strez. Although he did not know it here, Tony was about to have one of those moments

We turned at the Gas fields to Innamincka and stopped at the rest area just round the corner and....

...disaster! As Tony got off the Super 10 and checked the gear he noticed what was making that funny feeling he was having for the last few K's.

"I though something was wrong" he said

"When my gear was no longer pushing me in the back!"

We unpacked her and found the well renowned subframe failure had occurred.

A little walk around, some swearing and eye rolling later we had come up with the "dodgy brothers" solution to the issue. A couple of strategically placed tyre levers and harness ties should do it. I had a walk around and found a marker post laying on the ground, no-one seemed to be using it so we borrowed that to jam between the passenger foot peg and the rack just for good measure.

And what good repair is complete without the obligatory use of copious lengths of Telecom rope!

In no time at all we were in Innamincka and paying $8.00 for a beer!!! You guessed it..

"Ten Bucks!!"

And that only covered the carton with no ice or any munchies here. $70.00 a carton is good if you can get it.

We headed down to the Town Common and set up camp on the luxurious succulent carpet that was left over from the previous floods. very nice.

 

After camp was sorted and "Ten Bucks" was over we thought we had better go find out who can weld up the S10 frame. A chat to Warren at the Trading Post and we were off to see "Kabong" or "Kim", whoever we found first at Innamincka Earthmoving.

 

Apparently they were out on the Gas Fields working as the approaching rain had sent all the Gas Field workers into a scurry to get plant from where it was to where it had to be before the roads turned to shit (hint number 2 that I was overly optimistic) Managed to get them on the two-way and they said we would be able to have a look tomorrow. So we headed off back to camp.

The next day we were up at the gate again at 8:00 but they were already out. "We can get to you by 3:00pm" they said. This was to be the turning point for the trip because Rossco, Dave and Mark were (rightly) concerned for the weather and after a lot of 'umming' and  'ahhring' decided to head for Birdsville.

"We will wait for you guys at Cadelga Ck Tomorrow" Rossco said

I waited around with Tony so he did not get left alone and they took off. As it turned out Kabong tuned up at the camp at 1:00pm and said

"Plans have changed"

He said get over to the shop and he would fit us in now as we would get stranded here if we did not get out today. (again the universe was trying to tell me something but I was not listening)

Kabong did a top notch job on the welding and I think for $80.00 it was as good as new. Better in fact!

As we had a few hours of daylight left, Tony and I took off for the Dig Tree and spend the night out there. We would be out of Innamincka and closer to the bitumen if we needed to slab it out of there.

DAY 5 INNAMINCKA TO THE DIG TREE

This was a bit of a religious experience for me. Not that I am religious or anything but you get the picture. I am fascinated and awe struck by the Bourke and Wills story and the men who lived it. I can't imagine how they managed to do what they did, regardless of the circumsances but to have a boat and a huge writing desk along with all the other stuff they  carried, and set of into this country was just unimaginable for me. They pushed on and on and kept the men on task and had no mutiny or murder (just) along the way. Just amazing.

My father was a truck driver and worked most of his pre marriage years out here and had some stories of his own to tell. He also was fascinated by this story but never got to the tree. He passed away about 6 years ago and I always have some of his ashes in a littler vile in my jacket pockets. So he can keep on truckin' with me as long as I can manage it. I was planing to sprinkle the ashes I had in this jacket under the tree so it was with a heavy heart that I walked from the car park over to a place that I had meant to get to but never had...'til now.

It helped that the area looked so good. It was cool, not too dry and was quiet. You know that quiet, not like the noisy crackling hissing quiet that you get in the outback on a still hot summers day. The soft damp quiet that you get over the coast or just after a storm has passed. Very serene.

It was probably just me but there was a palpable feeling of tragedy or frustration in the air. The type you would get after just missing something really important by a few minutes for no apparent reason other than sheer bad luck. I can't imagine how the friends and family must have felt when it dawned on them from the information gathered months after that the whole incident could have ended so differently if things had just been a few hours different. If just one thing had or had not happened to one or both parties in the days leading up to their decision to move... or not!!

It's a little spooky looking don't you think?

Could be the view down at the local park in any small country town couldn't it.

Belies the location, out here, literally in the middle of nowhere!

Dawn over the Cooper.......aaaahhhhh the serenity!

Time to get going. Tony and I had deliberated on the Go via Arrabury or Cordillo long into the evening. The decision.........

..........Cordillo. Something we would later regret.

 

DAY 6 THE DIG TREE TO PROVIDENCE CK (AND BACK TO CORDILLO STATION)

The sky and my optimism were still saying this was the right thing to do. Evil homer on the other hand was bound and gagged in my tank bag shouting mooooo....mooooooooooo. Yeah yeah, tell someone who's listening.

Fantastic moonscapes with green as far as the eye could see. Truly magical and hypnotising.

Turning at the Hereford sign onto the top Cordillo track was damp.

See what it looked like and what it tried to tell us here:

 

 

I was wondering if the clearance under the fork brace was going to be a problem.

The pictures don't show it but the moisture in the ground makes the ochre colour of the sand out there so brilliant it's hard to keep you eye on the road.

We got to the Sheering Shed and had a look around. Amazing story told by the info sheets on the end wall. The number of people that were living in the area at various periods ranging from just over 100 to nearly 1000 in the late 1800's and the early 1900 respectively. The ratio of men to women was about 10 to one. Would have made for some interesting woolshed dances I think! Cordillo is now around 5,000,000 hectares and is one of two properties of that size owned by same the family, along with three others in the Birdsville area and the New England region. Nearly holders of as much land as the ACT.

Nice Shed, even by todays standards. We had not a lot of time to spend here (we thought) so we quickly snapped of a few shots and headed north.

As you can see in the video above, we got about 35km further up the road before we came across two 4WD's stopped at the Providence creek crossing that had come up and flowed along the road in both directions for a couple of hundred metres. We were pretty stunned by that time on how quickly the water was rising and flowing. The 4WD guys walked the crossing and it  seemed to be doable but what  lay ahead was now a real concern. Tony and I decided to head back to Cordillo homestead and ask the managers for some info and let them know who we were and that we were OK and of coarse where we were heading next....once we had worked that out!!

We got back to Cordillo after coming back through a few channels that we had crossed dry but were now carrying a lot of water. That was just in half an hour of talking to the 4WD folk so there was some water coming from upstream that had fallen a few days ago. Can you hear the message the universe was sending me?  I can now but for some reason at the time I was still sure that we could make Birdsville and worry about getting out of there later.

When we arrived back at Cordillo the station manager was out in his plane flying over the very road we were wanting info on. Anthony was due back in in 45 minutes we were told by Janette (his wife) and we asked if we could lay down on their beautiful lawn, under the shady trees and wait. Naturally she said yes. we chatted to the young couple who were working as hands on the property and were intending to head of up the Cordillo road to Birdsville for the weekend. After hearing what we reported that decided that they would wait for Anthony too.

Well Anthony touched down and woke us up, as he pulled the plane up to the back of the property we collected our gear and put our boots back on that we had left drying in the sun. He said that there was plenty of water on the road, it did not appear to be flowing so it should not get any higher. The road is not generally boggy when its wet as it has a good solid bottom but can be slippery. Well that we already knew. After a fairly long deliberation we decided that we would try to get through again but as it was getting late that we would like to do that fresh in the morning and therefore would they mind of we threw out swags down in the old Wool Shed for the night. He was reluctant to do that as it would encourage others to think that camping on the station is OK which it is clearly not and we understood and were ready to walk of dejected to our bikes and limp off BUT...

"You can throw them down on the floor of the workers quarters over there and use the ablutions block if you like" he offered.

We thanked him so much and so intensely that it started to feel weird even for me, shook hands and made revolutions for the digs. We spent the evening recapping the days happenings and talking rubbish as you do when your stressed and have not eaten for a day, we made dinner and washed up. Sat on the step and watched the stars come out which only went to convince me that we were OK as far as the rain was concerned.

 

DAY 7 CORDILLO STATION TO JUST PAST PROVIDENCE CK (THEN BIRDSVILLE BY 4WD)

Morning came and there were some clouds around but the only rain evident was to the south west so we hit it.

The picture below is how the day ended as far as riding went anyway. It was a common position that the old girl found herself in. The video below tells the story better than I can put it into words.

That was not enough so we kept on. with the following results:

No... we still had not had enough, so

and finally

The worst part was that we had been out of comm's with the other guys and our family for 3 days and we did not know wether they were worried or not. We were wondering all day if the guys had come this way or kept going through to Arrubury and on the Birdsville or gome east to Windorah. Were they still waiting at Cedalga like we planned. Were they just up the road few K's stuck or hurt. The mind can play tricks when you get into these situations. However we had to concentrate on us and where we were at this stage, we would just have to wait and see what was happening in the rest of the world later.

After we decide that there was little hope of getting the bikes into Birdsville Tony and I stripped down and got changed into some dry, clean clothes and packed some basic essentials into our tank bags. That way we were at least a little more 'attractive' as potential passengers for any passing 4WD's that may come past. As we sat there wondering if we would have to set up camp and be the next riders on the news having food and water dropped to us, we saw the lights of an approaching vehicle. As it got closer we realised that it was Janette from Cordillo being followed by Anthony. As luck would have it the dog had taken sick and they were going into Birdsville to the vet. Janette was in the 200series wagon and Anthony in the troopy. They stopped and gave us one of those dry country smiles and said

"Fancy meeting you guys here" or words to that effect.

Anthony was following her to make sure she did not get stuck in the swampy section just before the border (which served as the boundary of the station). Seems like his advice may have been a little under played since he said we 'should get thrpug' but he was not confident that she would in the Cruiser!! As it turned out after being in the car with her for a few K's she was a pretty handy driver so if he was 'concernbed' for her he must have had high expectations of us!!

Anyway, Anthony had a satellite phone with him andf called the recover guy in Birdsville when he found out I was with RACQ. We spoke to mPete for aminute, he chcked my cover and said

"OK we'll send out a truck now, you can meet him en-route and come back with him to recover the bikes"

Cool we thought and after some re arranging of kids, dogs and luggage, Tony and I were tucked in nice and dry in the cruiser, picking up the conversation with Janette where it left off the day before. We made the developmental Rd and at about the second grid we saw the familiar sight of the drop side cruiser with the RACQ sign on it coming the other way. We waved him down and I jumped in and we headed back for the bikes. Tony went on into Birdsville with Janette and Co to organise a camp and start getting things set up.

The ride back to the bikes was interesting as the driver and I exchanged stories about this, that and the other. The water was still rising as far as I could see and we were having trouble getting through some of the lower sections just inside Cordillo/SA. We made it back to thebikes about 4:30 and managed to get the GS on but he had a cradle in the tray behind that passenger setas that held 2 spare wheels. This meant that we were not able to get the Super 10 on!! We unpacked it and got all Tony's gear off and left here there on the side of the road. She was a sad sight and I felt bad leaving it there but we had no choice. The rain was coming down by mow and the light dropping so we hgh tailed it out. Just making it through some of the boggyer sections. The GS and I were about 500KG's rolling so the troopy had only half apayload but in the conditions I think the S10 may have caused us to get stuck. Not only that but back on the developmental Rd we were getting along at a fair clip and we started to get a rock up in a particularly bad set of wheel ruts. The rock got progressivly worse and worse until I knew this may not end well!! The cruiser took one last weave and climbed out of the ruts and headed off to the shoulder. Old mate had full opposite lock on and she qas not coming back! In oneof theose moments that lasts for what seems like 10 minutes I thought well this is where it ends hey!! Crushed inside a cruiser by my own bike just outside Bridsville!! well I would not have guessed that in a million years! Just then, after a 180 in the gibbers and thought one drain and over another she came to rest! Then, as cool as you like, old mate looked over to me and said

"And that's how easy it is to loose it on these roads"

Looked down, put her into low range and proceeded to drive out of the bog and onto the road and continue into town, albeit at a slightly less vigorous pace.

Tony met me at the Roadhouse and I broke the news to him about the S10. He took it fairly well but I'd soon worked out he was part way through his second "Ten Bucks". It was then I knew that the other boys had made it OK and were having a good time. All was right in the world again.

DAY 8 -11 STUCK IN BIRDSVILLE WAITING FOR THE ROAD TO OPEN

Well, the sun came up and we were in Birdsville on race day. So as you do we went and played "Ten Bucks" on the street outside the pub nd watched the world go by. On foot, bicycle, motorcycle, ute and planes. Gotta love that!!

Tony was in pretty good spirits for man that just abandoned his bike in the middle of nowhere.

The action from a less sunny position

Dave contemplating one of those 'Scenic flights' being sold by some nice 'Cougars'!!

Those helpful guys on the singles that pushed Tony through the go-around. Poor buggers were out here to cross the Simpson. Like us they were stranded with all roads closed.

Some people were woken inthe middle of the night by a stream flowing through their tents.

The Race track was a lake. Final trace pushed back to Sunday, Monday,Tuesday, cancelled.

We went to the "Working Museum" and had a great day. Amazing collection of Australiana and a fantastic show by the curator.

Heaps of stuff that us old bugger will remember seeing in Nan's house and Pop's shed.

The days started like this.....

and finished like this.

Brophy's tent was doing a roaring trade

Nots a bad way to spend some time if your stranded!

"Ten Bucks" in the campgrounds

The obligatory shot of the 'Royal'

DAY 12+13 WAITING FOR THE MAIL PLANE

The road to Bedourie opened on Wednesday and there was a mad queue of vehicles waiting to get out of town. The place had started to go a bit stupid and it was lucky the roads were open as the last 2 packets f cigarettes were auctioned for $600 odd and bread was $10 a loaf. The pub had no more 'heavy' beer for sale and the Bakery was out of everything!

The boys took their chances and left about 12:00 regardless of the extra distance they would have to travel via Winton and Longreach. Tony had managed to get a seat on a Greyhound as many passengers paid $1200 for flights out to meet other people they were travelling onward with. So by late lunch time I was the lone ranger in town. I had to wait for some brake pads and seals to come in from Brisbane (Thanks to the folk at the BMShop in  Stafford).

I spent he next couple of days hitting the library/info centre to get on the internet as that was the only affordable means of communication. Finally the mail arrived, I was not 100% certain that the parts had made it but to my relief they were there.

About an hour later the brakes were done and ready to go.I had relaxing afternoon and was packed ready to head of in the morning. I wandered up to the police station to ask about the road and was told that there was some pretty cut up sections. Understandable considering it was still very wet and just had about 1000 vehicles of all shapes and sizes over it. Could not get any news about the Bedourie to Windorah Rd but I was hoping to go that way tomorrow. The best the Birdsville cop could do was suggest I ask at the shire offices in Bedourie tomorrow. With that I headed for the pub to have my own "Ten Bucks". On the way back to the pub the skys were  ominous

DAY 14 BIRDSVILLE TO WINDORAH VIA BEDOURIE

The morning was clear, in contrast to my head anyway. No rain and the road was still open. I had a quick coffee and hit the road. It was a good run out to the Cacoory Waterhole where the causeway was torn to pieces. The Birdsville cop told me to watch this one as there were a number of vehicles bogged there yesterday and the day before. The causeway had a concrete bottom but the road immediately beyond the concrete was badly damaged. As I got to it I was cautious as it was still well under water. They said about .8m but it was less than that until I got to the end pf the causeway where the front of the bike fell downward and the bash plate hit what must have been the end/edge of the concrete. Water cam up over the screen and I just opened the throttle and hoped she did not get a gut full of water. The well oiled pre filter did its job and we managed to scramble up the other side of the hole and cough and splutter back up to speed. I don't mind saying I shat myself for a second!!

The next section was good until the Cuttaburra Waterhole where there is a long section of road that runs through the wetlands and had=s a rough timber bridge in the centre of a stretch of about 200m that was all under water except the timber section in the middle that was just above the water. I was not stopping for photos by this stage, which I now regret but I just wanted out of the channel country by now and nothing but fuel stops were on the agenda. About half way through this section the bike started to miss and cough. I thought that it was just a wet air cleaner and ignored it. I limped into Bedourie and filled up, main tank and both 10L Jerry's as I was going to Windorah, hook or by crook. A quick word to the leading hand at the council road crew and I found that the road was open to Windorah and that road trains were getting through. That is good in the sense that any shitty sections were not too long or boggy but could have 1.5M of water over it!!

I headed back out of town to the turnoff and started the 260km section to the bitumen. About 60k's from the turnoff I was getting along pretty well, just starting to feel good about being on the road again when the bike just cut out. Nothing, no sign of life. Just like on the Cancer ride recce run through the Condamine river Rd.

"Oh shit" I said out loud.

"You bastard"

Last time this happened I had to get the RACQ truck to cart us home! I did not want that. Stuck in Bedourie for a week!! I was gutted. I started pleading with the bike to "Get it;'s shit together" etc. I got the WD40mout and unplugged all the external connector to the TPS and Injectors. Drenched them and turned the key on  and she went.

"Yes" I shouted and punched the air.

I got on and started a dialogue with the bike that went something like "You little beauty, No more water I promise"

About 30 Km further on she cut out again. I had not seen 1 vehicle all this time on the road ans thought it might be a cold hungry night for me if I can't get her going. Once again I searched for things to spray. I stuck the tube off the WD40 in through a vent in the front plastic cover and tried to get some down onto the back of the bottom pulley for the alternator belt as that's where the Hall Effect trigger is and I had  not changed that out when I did the wiring harness (and thought I'd seen the end of this issue). I managed to get half a can down there, turned the key, got ignition lights and cranked her over. Away she went!!. Another pleading discussion with the bike ensued and resulted in me swearing that if she gets me home I will never, ever, ever sell her. She will live with me in the shed forever!!

Well she never did miss a beat again. We made it through some more water but nothing on the scale we had seen in the last week and got to the bitumen. I parked under the rest area at the intersection and put the 20L from the Jerry's in the tank to get to Windorah.

DAY 15 WINDORAH TO MITCHELL

Nothing to see here folks. Just some old fart hammering down the tarmac at $1.20 trying to get home for work on Monday. Problem was it was Saturday.

DAY 16 MITCHELL TO PEACHESTER

More contracting, managed to get in by 3:30 and unpack before dark. Had a good sleep in my own bed with my own pillow and get up for duty the next morning. Shit that was a good trip. Not as planned but for the first one in 5 years it was a corker.

 

What's next  :-P

 

Adventure on guys.

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